Tuesday, August 21, 2012

It
is amazing to me that no two chess games are ever alike. Considering
that there are a limited number of pieces on the board, each with
their own restrictive movements, it is quite fascinating that there
are nearly unlimited variations to this thinking person's game. An
accomplished player will need to consider a whole host of possible
movements while speculating about future counter-moves. Chess is then
similar to math linking probability to an underlying and intentional
master plan behind each and every move.

The
game of chess has, in fact, been used as different types of
metaphors. The most common is related to strategies of war. The enemy
is the opponent, and one considers each move in the light of possible
reactions and retaliations. The same approach can be used for
business ventures or even plans and planned changes in the workplace
or in one's life. One acts on and analyzes the different possible
reactions that may occur as a result of a given action.

Decision-making
is not a simple process. A conscientious person will make prognostics
about the decision before
she acts, not after. It is a mental picturing of how things may turn
out; one considers the evidence and other peculiars of the situation
to come up with the best possible action.

We
encounter this particularly in heist movies where the plan is laid
out, how things are supposed
to develop, and then the actual heist falling apart at the seams
because of an unforeseen detail, a minor, perhaps unexpected
oversight, or an unaccounted random chance or “freak” occurrence.

Those
may be the extreme ends of decision-making. But in our ordinary lives
we do encounter choices on a daily basis. Everything from the trivial
to the significant. Sometimes the trivial may turn out to be
life-changing. For example, a few years ago we decided not to go to a
Mexican Independence festival that ended up falling victim to a
grenade attack with a number of casualties. The decision breaker
here was the fact that my wife was pregnant at the time, and we knew
for a fact that the event would attract large crowds. Had my wife not
been pregnant, we probably would not have missed out on this event.

We
hear such stories of people making minor, seemingly banal decisions
that may have saved their lives. We may put more weight on the
selection of significant decision points, such as where to live and
work, having children, buying property, but even the trivial category
of decisions may have the potential to alter our lives in significant
ways.

So
if even your minor decisions may have such an impact, does that not
make you feel anxious and paranoid? I mean we are bombarded with the
possibility of many choices the same way a chess-player has a number
of moves at hand at pretty much any moment (unless he is being
checked or close to check-mate; in that case, his options would be
severely limited).

Add
to this the selection of words at any given moment. Do we tell a
colleague what John Doe did at the Christmas party with Jill? The
impulsive will not be able to control themselves or their tongue,
while the speculative chess-players might carefully weigh choices and
repercussions before speaking.

Can
a right word or right action at the right time land you the job or
promotion or even the mate you have always dreamed of? Or would the
opposite happen, you botched a wonderful opportunity because of
something so seemingly insignificant like the color of your tie or an
innocuous comment that was taken the wrong way?

Think
about it. What you have for breakfast or maybe what you had for
dinner last night may affect your day in unsuspected ways too. To
drink the extra cup of Joe or not may then become a
neurotically charged existential question.

What
are we to do? Are we to have an in-house psychic or a pocket-sized I Ching or Tarot cards oracle to run past and consult every moment of our lives? What
to wear today, what music to listen to on the iPod, what topics to
address at work?

Many
of us will say that those things are trivial and one needs to be
spontaneous about them. Or one may need to listen to one's gut
feelings since it is impossible to plan everything out. And that is
my point here. If you add up and fret about all the alternative
possible moves you may have made during your life time, it will drive
you insane.

If
I had not moved to that particular deserted oil-town in Mexico by
listening to the advice of parents, colleagues and financial
advisers, I would have never met my wife there and not have had my
beautiful son. Did I seriously consider that outcome? Was it a
logical, well thought out decision?

On
an outward level, I did not know but perhaps an inner voice guided me
in that direction. We can call it destiny; we can call it a random
act. Yet one thing remains clear: Our actions have (karmic)
reactions. This may be the reason why we feel angst and anxiety at
times because we simply do not know and must trust ourselves on our
decisions and actions, right or wrong. (Incidentally, that might be
one of the causes for “existential angst” or “dread” that
Kierkegaard speaks of, the fear of the unknown at each and every
moment of our lives.)

All
this is similar to the situation of Tomas in the opening passage of
Kundera's novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being when he comes
to the conclusion that “Es muss sein" (It has to be) and that
there is no way of living an experimental parallel life with a
combination of different decisions. There is nothing to compare
against except the life we are given, with the choices, good or bad,
we have made along the way. In a way, we need to accept our fate, the
way the cookie crumbles and the way the dice roll and in the meantime
simply play and carry on with our daily lives.

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